This week, our two groups finally joined together.

Originally, the plan for the project had been to have an endurance race between Mars Rovers containing different energy sources. However, further research told us that solar energy (to power the Rover on the way to Mars) and wind energy (to power the Rover on Mars – yes, there are winds on Mars!), were the only options.

Instead, we have decided to test our programming skills by programming three robots and racing them against each other.

In the club this week, Ken explained to the whole group how the programming works, whilst our S6 mentors gave us a quiz on renewable energy. Undeniably, an exciting and busy week in STEM club!

At the last STEM meeting, we split into teams looking at NASA’s Curiosity rover and comparing it with our own. Their rover also uses solar power and is programmed in a similar way to ours. NASA have Engineering and Science teams, whereas ours are categorised as Energy and Engineering but in general, there are lots of similarities with how the project is being completed.

We have seen a few changes in personnel this year and our new teams are listed below:

Energy

Leader: Robbie

Co-ordinator: Alex

Team Members: Jordan, Bilal, Beth, Euan, Alistair, Jenny and Tyra.

Engineering

Leader: Steven

Co-ordinator: Megan

Team Members: David, Andrew, Francois, Dougie and Helen.